Good Payroll Processing Starts Before the First Payroll

Payroll Relief onboarding is not complete when an employer appears in the client list.

The setup process establishes pay schedules, employer information, permissions, employee data, tax configuration, electronic-service eligibility, prior payroll information, and other inputs that future payrolls will reuse.

Errors at this stage can become recurring payroll errors.

Establish the Client in Firm Administration

IRIS documentation describes signing employers up for payroll services through Client Management and then completing employer-specific payroll setup.

The accounting firm should also create an internal client owner.

Someone needs responsibility for shepherding the employer from setup to a successful first payroll.

Treat Pay Schedules as Critical Master Data

IRIS uses unusually strong language regarding pay schedules: the documentation says they are critical to successful payroll processing because many payroll actions depend on the schedule and incorrect information can create compliance problems.

Confirm:

frequency;

period-end logic;

first pay date;

non-banking-day handling;

employee assignment;

contractor schedules where applicable.

This is not a field to populate from assumption.

Capture Prior Payroll When the Client Starts Mid-Year

Payroll Relief supports a Prior Payroll type specifically for entering year-to-date earnings, taxes, and deductions from payrolls processed before the employer began using Payroll Relief during the year.

Accurate prior payroll is critical for:

tax wage bases;

year-to-date reporting;

W-2 preparation;

deduction limits;

and other calculations.

A first live payroll can calculate correctly by itself while the year’s cumulative records remain wrong.

Decide the Client Collaboration Model

Before granting access, decide what the employer will actually do.

Possible models include:

firm enters everything;

client enters payroll, firm approves;

client maintains selected employees and enters payroll;

client receives broader processing authority.

Payroll Relief supports tailored employer permissions and lets the accountant inspect the resulting Client View.

Permissions should follow the service agreement.

Set Up Electronic Services as a Separate Workstream

If the client uses electronic services, onboarding may include:

bank validation;

EFT application;

Form 8655;

direct-deposit configuration;

tax e-file setup;

approved funding limits or processing terms.

IRIS states that electronic payments cannot proceed until required bank validation and application approval are complete.

Do not schedule the first electronic payroll assuming approvals will appear automatically in time.

Verify Direct-Deposit Authorization

Employees electing direct deposit should have appropriate authorization on file before their direct-deposit setup is entered.

The firm’s onboarding checklist should distinguish:

employer electronic-payment authorization;

employee direct-deposit authorization.

They are different documents.

Define Client Deadlines Before Payroll Starts

A service relationship is easier when the client knows:

when payroll data is due;

who receives it;

what constitutes a late submission;

when direct-deposit deadlines apply;

who approves unusual payments;

how new employees must be communicated;

how terminations are communicated;

who is contacted for funding problems.

These rules belong in onboarding, not in the first emergency.

Run the First Payroll More Slowly

The first payroll should receive more review than the tenth.

Verify:

employee population;

pay schedules;

wages;

tax jurisdictions;

deductions;

direct-deposit amounts;

prior-year-to-date balances where applicable;

employer taxes;

payroll comparison context;

funding.

There is little value in optimizing the first payroll for speed.

The objective is to establish a correct baseline future payrolls can be compared against.

Offboarding Should Be Designed During Onboarding

Payroll Relief documentation allows firms to terminate clients through Client Management and indicates that terminated-client information can eventually be purged from the database.

That means the firm should know its own archival requirements before terminating a relationship.

Do not discover after termination that records needed for retention or handoff were never exported.

A Completed Onboarding Has an Operating Owner

The client is ready when:

setup is complete;

pay schedule is verified;

prior payroll is reconciled;

permissions are intentional;

electronic-service status is known;

funding rules are understood;

deadlines are communicated;

first payroll has been reviewed;

responsible staff know the ongoing workflow.

That is a stronger definition than “login created.”